A7463
by The GothyFaery
Summary: Lace is the new girl in town but she isn't what she seems to be at first glance. What is she hiding and more importantly, who is she hiding from? This is an original plot, I promise and also NO SLASH. Sorry if you like it, I thought it was overdone.
1. Awkward Meetings

_Disclaimer: I don't own Big Wolf on Campus or any of it's characters nor am I making money from this. Really, I'm broke... Check my wallet, I think there's like six ones in there._

_Okay, legal stuff is done now you get to hear me talk for a little bit and then maybe I'll let you hear the story. Like I said in the summery, I have revamped this story, mainly just little details but I made a lot of little changes so I thought it would be easier on me to just repost the story. However, by doing this, I have lost all the lovely reviews I had before. It would be really nice if I could get more! It helps me write more chapters! Okay, I'm done talking. As promised before, here's the story!_

For a Friday night, The Factory wasn't very crowded. Perhaps the jock's Spring Break party kept the larger clique out. Merton sat alone at one of the tables. He had tried his shot at the party but he just couldn't seem to fit in with those people. Tommy and Lori were the only reasons he was even anywhere near the party. After five minutes of dirty looks and loud pop music, Merton practically ran out screaming. He did, however keep his composure long enough to quietly dismissed himself from his only two friends. Unwilling to go home at 7 o'clock on the second biggest party night of the school year, he decided to stop by The Factory to see if any others had skipped the big bash. To his dismay, the only people who were there was the chess clubbers and the math geeks, both cliques he would have been accepted in if it hadn't been for his own uniqueness.

So, alone Merton sat at a table sipping on a very brightly decorated drink. He sighed and looked at his watch which read '7:24' in digital numbers. He looked across the few people in the large room then at the door. He wasn't going to just sit there alone with all these geeks. That was it; he moved to the door and shoved it with an angry force. Against his expectation, the door didn't swing open as he intended. Instead, there was a loud thump and a moan from the other side of the swinging door. He frustration melted away and was replaced with a mix of guilt and fear of who stood on the other side. He slowly pulled the door open, almost wincing as he peered around the edge. His tensed body loosened when he saw a girl dressed in a long white gown and her hand held over her face.

"Oh, wow. I'm, I'm sorry! Are you okay?" Said Merton as he stepped closer to the girl. She closed her eyes tight and slowly moved her hand. Several drops of blood slid down her face and blossomed on the bust of the dress. "You're bleeding!" he exclaimed.

"Whatever gave you that idea," She said with just a hint of sarcasm. "Would you mind getting me a tissue or something?"

"Of course." said Merton, nervously. "Come inside and sit down. I'll get you a napkin." He ushered her to the table he had been sitting at and ran off. The girl held her head back and covered her nose as she waited. "Um, h-here you go." He said in a rushed tone as he handed her several napkins. "Are you okay?"

She sighed and covered her nose with a napkin and it's whiteness began to vanish and was replaced by growing bright redness.

"I think I'll live. Are you going to drink that water?" She motioned to the glass in Merton's hand. He stuttered in an effort to tell her it was meant for her. After several failed attempts at an understandable sentence, he surrendered the struggle and handed it to her with his head lowered. She fished a piece of ice out and held it against the red blossoms on her dress. "So, is this how you always greet a new girl?"

"Yeah--I mean, no," he smiled and blushed. "I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"It's okay," she interrupted. "I'm Lace." She dropped the ice and held out a milk-white hand. Merton looked at her for a second then took her chilled hand. "And you are…?"

"Oh, right. Merton J. Dingle."

Lace smiled and removed the napkin from her face. For the first time Merton notice elaborate white makeup that danced around her emerald eyes. Her eyelashes were snow-covered icicles and her lips were a frosted blue. She looked like a snow queen in all her whiteness, glittered cheeks and ice makeup.

"Are there always this many people in here?" she asked as she tucked a strand of her long, white hair behind her ear.

"There's usually a lot more but everyone's at the Spring Break party tonight."

"So, why aren't you there?" Merton shrugged as his face flushed pink. "I wouldn't be caught dead there either. Well, I mean, even if I wasn't 'the new girl.'" she said with finger quotes. "I came here to maybe meet someone and just get out of the house. We've been unpacking for the last day and a half."

"So-so, you're new in town?" He stuttered.

Lace laughed. "Yes, hints my 'new girl' air quotes."

"Oh, right. So where did you move from?"

"A small town way out in the middle of nowhere Nevada."

"So did you leave a lot of friends behind, a-a boyfriend, maybe?"

Lace smiled. "No, I don't have a boyfriend, if that's what you were trying to slyly imply." Merton blushed. "I did leave a few really good friends behind… but I think I'm doing well about making new friends here."

"Really? Who have you met?" She looked at him strangely. "Oh, you mean me?" Lace grinned and nodded as their conversation continued. Merton was a little shy for the first few minutes of conversation but soon warmed to Lace. There was a comforting aura about her. Maybe it was the fact that he assured himself she was out of his league and had no shot at her at all. Over two hours later, Lace and Merton were laughing and talking like old friends. It wasn't until nearly 10 o'clock, they had realized the time.

"I really should get going," said Lace. "I'm really glad you slammed a door in my face." Merton blushed again and flashed a small smile. Lace began to stand without noticing the chess clubber behind her with several drinks in his clumsy hands. As her chair moved back, the boy stumbled over it and spilled every drink in his hand. Lace sat with her now multicolored white dress clinging to her body. The boy's apology consisted of stutters followed by mesmerized gazes upon her underclothes that were now visible. Merton stood, after several glances of his own, and wrapped his jacket around her.

"Here, let's go." He put his arm around the soaked girl and walked her out to the hearse. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah. Just a little wetness. That guy was a jerk though. For such a big nerd, I would expect better."

"It's not really his fault though. He's never seen a girl in his life besides his mother." Lace laughed as Merton did a happy dance in his head because he had made a witty comment. "Do you need a ride home?"

"I would really like that. It's about two streets from here and the house is… blue, I think. No, it's a gray-white."

"Do you know the name of the street?"

"No, but I have a great memory. Just drive that way," she pointed to her left then corrected herself and pointed right, "and I'll tell you where to go from there." Merton sighed and followed her instructions. He had a strong feeling that she was lost after the first twenty minutes of driving but she insisted they were close.

"Stop!" she screamed, causing Merton to lock the breaks. "See right there?" Lace pointed out the window at someone's yard. "I stopped there to pet a dog. We're close."

"That's where Lori lives and she doesn't have a dog."

Lace sighed. "See, right there?" She pointed to a yard on the other side of the street. "I stopped to pet a dog right there. We're so close. Go that way." Merton sighed. It only took another ten minutes to before they did reach the house. It was a dull yellow house with, dark blue shutters. Merton stopped the hearse in front of the house.

"Thank you for the ride home. It would have taken me until morning to find it on my own."

"No problem. You might want to remember the address from now on though."

Lace smiled and reddened her cheeks. "I might not. I liked spending more time with you. I really like you, Merton." She pulled him closer to her and kissed him lightly. "Thanks for the ride." With that said, she got out of the car and began to walk up the steps.

"Wait, can I see you again?" Merton's voice began to squeak.

"I'll think about it." She smiled and stepped inside.


	2. Dominating Attractions

_Disclaimer: I don't own BWoC or it's characters nor am I making money from this. I write for fun not for profit and getting sued is not fun... or so I've been told._

The next day, Merton tried to explain the new girl he had met to a very tired Tommy Dawkins. It seemed to be a little too early in the afternoon for the sleeping teenager to comprehend most of what Merton was saying. Tommy simply nodded his head as if Merton was there and drifted in and out of sleep, not that Merton noticed. He had been too busy recreating all of the previous night's conversation. After nearly seven solid minuets of talking, Merton began to hear Tommy snoring lightly on the other end of the phone.

"Tommy, are you listening to me?" The phone fell silent. "Tommy!" he screamed. The sleeping teenager mumbled incoherently. "Now, where was I?" He said more to himself than to Tommy. "Oh, right, I took her home and before she left, she kissed me!" There was silence. "Tommy, did you hear that?!"

"Kiss you before I leave," Tommy mumbled again.

Merton looked at the phone with a confused look. "No, I said she--" He was interrupted by a rapid rhythm of knocks on the side door. "Hang on, Tommy." Tommy didn't mind the silence, in fact, he took advantage of it to catch a few more seconds of sleep.

Merton opened the door to a pale skinned girl wearing thick, dark sunglasses. Her short cropped hair bounced as her deep purple lips crisply formed the words "on your knees, maggot."

"T-Tommy, I'll have to call you back." Merton hung up the phone and eyed the girl carefully. He started at her polished, six-inch heeled boots that covered most of her legs, moving slowly up cobwebbed covered legs. Several inches above her knees fell the hem of a black vinyl dress which acted as a second layer of skin. The zipper of the dress was pulled down to the middle of her chest, showing the top of two perfectly shaped breasts. The sleeves of the dress ended just below her shoulders. In her hand she held a long, black whip rolled in her fist. Merton's eyes fixed on this, then moved to her face. She held her arms out and spun around.

"Merton, it's me!" Said the girl. "Don't tell me you've forgotten already. Remember, Lace? You jammed a door in my face last night."

"Lace? W-what happened to your hair. It's black and…" He moved his hands to his waist and then up to his cheek where her hair now sat. "…gone. I-I…I am speechless."

"Well, the white just didn't go with this dress. So, I changed it. That was a wig. This is what my real hair looks like." Merton stood, jaw ajar. "So, are you going to invite me in or do I have to make you?" Lace let the leather whip in her hand roll to the ground. He waved his arm to show her in but didn't speak.

"What are you doing here?" He finally asked as he still adjusted to the look of her.

"I wanted to bring your jacket back to you and thank you again for giving me a ride last night." She handed him the jacket that had been draped over her arm.

"Well, thank you. But, how'd you find me?"

"Not very many people have a hearse parked in front of their house. It really wasn't that hard." She took her glasses off as she began to explore the vast wonders of Merton's lair.

"I guess I never thought of that." He smiled as Lace turned to face him. It was now he noticed the blue and brown hues encircling her eye and temple. "What happened?"

"What? Oh, you mean my eye? You happened. I guess you hit me a little harder than we thought." She grinned. "That was the other reason I came by. I thought you might want to see what pretty colors you made."

"I am _so _sorry," he began again. Lace waved her hand as a way of telling him to forget about it and moved to the other side of the room to see what the shelves held. Merton stood there in silence as she poked around his knickknacks and studied several of his books. He slowly moved toward her and began to read over her shoulder. Lace replaced the book on the shelf and turned on her heel to face him without realizing Merton stood just behind her and they found themselves almost pressed together with desire filling them.

"Um," began Lace as she bit her lip. "Where'd you get this book?" She felt around the desk at her side and picked up the first book she found.

"_Advanced Trig_? I-it co-comes with the class."

"Right." Her face flushed and she tried to smile as she felt the warm heat of Merton's body and for a moment she dreamt of him pulling her in for a gentle kiss as she let the math book clatter to the floor. She thought of his strong hands holding her body against his as they moved down her back and gripped her rear. Their kiss became more passionate and harder as Lace pushed herself upon the computer desk. Her fantasy didn't last long as Merton's sister entered the room. Lace looked at Merton, remembering where she left reality, then turned to the door.

"Hey, freaker, you got a phone call, though I don't know why anyone would--" interrupted Becky as she pushed the door open. Becky fell mute for a moment before she commented "Are you two about to kiss, 'cause that would be gross." She slowly backed out of the room and slammed the door. Merton said his quick apologies to Lace for the behavior of his sister as he picked up the phone.

"Did you say she kissed you?" Asked Tommy who was now fully awake. "Were you telling me that she kissed you?" he asked in a tone of shock that Merton took slight offence to.

"Is that really that surprising?" His voice squeaked in defense.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I'm sorry but the only time that ever happens is when she's going to eat you or use you for some evil plot to got to me. Has she been feeding you or have you been gaining weight recently?"

"No! And if you are referring to those spiders chicks, they just wanted me for my bod." Merton had nearly forgotten that Lace was in the room until he heard her stifled laughter at that last statement.

"What was that?" asked Tommy. "She's there now, isn't she?"

"Why, yes, as a matter of fact, she is. So I've got to go." Merton said proudly.

"Why don't you bring her by the Factory later? I'll bring Lori and we can all meet her."

"Okay, fine. We'll meet you there soon." Merton replaced the phone on the dresser and turned to face Lace who now was sitting at his computer with a snake draped around her shoulders. She smiled as the snake took a closer investigation of her and smelled her face with his tongue. It wasn't until Lace began to mimic the creature by flicking her tongue at it that Merton thought the situation to be odd. Lace redirected her attention to him as the snake slid down her arm and onto the desk.

"Such a nice snake. So, who was that and where are we going?"

"That was a friend of mine, Tommy Dawkins. He wants to meet us at the Factory… I mean, if that's okay with you."

Lace nodded. "Sure, just don't hit me with any more doors."

"I am so…"

_Disclaimer: I don't own BWoC or it's charicaters nor am I making money from this. I write for fun not for profit and getting sued is not fun... or so I've been told._


	3. Horrific Murderers

_Disclaimer: Again, I don't own BWoC or any of it's characters... Also I don't own any of the movies or characters discussed in this chapter... Oh yeah, horror movie battle!_

_Okay, here's where the bigger changes start to take place. I'm still revising Chapter Four. I think I might just rewrite it all together with all the changes I made here. But anyways... I still would like some reviews... I don't care if you reviewed this chapter before, do it again Damn it! ... I can say that because I rated this T... I think I can say that...

* * *

_

By the time Tommy had dragged Lori out of her house and to the Factory, Merton and Lace had already claimed a table to make home. The two stopped in their tracks upon seeing the pair of Goths sitting on the opposite side of the room. Lace's booted legs sat delicately crossed and her body leaned over the table putting them close to each other. It took a moment for the couple to regain themselves enough to move toward their friend. Merton looked up as they stood over them.

"Tommy, Lori, this is Lace. Lace, Tommy and Lori." He said motioning extravagantly as he spoke with jittering excitement in his voice. Lace looked them over. Even if Merton hadn't told her, she could have pinned Tommy as the typical high school jock. His lean, tanned body and broad shoulders marked him almost as much as the letterman jacket he wore. Lori's short, blonde hair sat spiked out. These didn't seem to be the right friends for a person like Merton. The classic jock and preppy girlfriend usually played the villain against the individualist. However out of the ordinary they seems, Tommy and Lori were Merton's friends, that was evident.

"Hey," Lace finally said before turning back to Merton. Tommy and Lori sat down and tried to break into the conversation. The couple had a very strong connection and it seemed that connection only grew with every word spoken to each other. After nearly an hour of listening to Merton and Lace speak mainly on the work of H. P. Lovecraft, their company was beginning to fade out into a long, almost sleeping daydream. Finally, Lace looked at the two and noticed the bored expression they both seemed to share.

"Let's go for a walk." No sooner had the words left Lace's mouth, Tommy stood in a trance-like state and moved toward the exit. "I didn't mean this second." The three looked at each other and then at Tommy who paid no heed to them.

"Tommy!" called Lori. "How 'bout paying before we leave? Tommy?" Lori ran to his side and pulled on his arm but he just shrugged her off.

It wasn't until Lace made a loud, high pitched whistle and called "Stop" that Tommy stood still. "Now, come back here and wait until we're all ready to leave." He turned around, still in a trance-like state and reclaimed his chair.

Once seated, he regained his sense and looked between the three who were staring at him. "What's going on?"

Merton and Lori looked between Lace and Tommy. "I just have one of those demanding voices." When this excuse failed to satisfy, she picked up the leather whip on the table and snapped it. "Maybe it's the whip." This excuse didn't seem to settle them much either but it was just enough to get them out of the Factory and into the park.

The four walked along the pathway through the park. Tommy and Lori still stood just outside of the conversation but were allowed to enter their opinion occasionally if they could keep up with the two Goths.

"But what about Christian Bale in _American Psycho_?" Countered Merton during the rousing debate of 'the best horror movie killer.'

"You mean Bateman? He never killed anyone. He was just some crazy guy who thought he killed people. I'm telling you, Pinhead was the best! He had quality and quantity."

"Bateman had quantity! He killed nearly 40 girls!"

"In his head!" she shouted. "Besides, Pinhead has existed throughout thousands of years in like nine movies and all his victims are real!" Merton thought for a moment.

"Okay, but what about He Who Walks Behind the Rows from _Children of the Corn_?"

"Oh, I saw that movie!" cried Tommy. "Yeah, man, those corn people are brutal. Merton and Lace stopped in their tracts and turned to face Tommy.

Finally, Lace shook her head and returned to their debate. "The only one who could do anything against Pinhead is Freddy Kruger.

"But that would only work if he fell asleep."

Lori groaned loudly. "Who cares?! They're movie characters! None of their victims were real and it doesn't matter which is the best because they're not real!" Lace turned to face the annoyed girl who had made such a scene.

"Maybe they're not real to you but to some of us, they are characters that should be pitted together in battle." Lace now spoke more to Merton than Lori. "A battle which Pinhead would win no matter who you put against him!" Lori sighed and gave in as the two in front of her picked up their conversation like nothing happened.

As the afternoon faded into evening, the four rounded the park to end up back in front of the Factory. They said their good-byes and began to leave. Before getting into Merton's car, Lace pulled Lori aside.

"Look," she said. "I'm sorry about that whole battle of monsters. I've never been around someone who would carry out such an argument. I might have gotten a little carried away. But I'm a woman of passion who could never lose such a battle of movie monsters. You know what I mean?"

Lori looked at her for a moment, not really sure how to react. "Yeah, I understand."

"Great, so no hard feelings?"

"No, of course not."

"Good." Before Lori could stop her, Lace had pulled her into a hard embrace. Lori stood there, still realizing what was going on. Finally she loosened her grip and went back to join Merton and Tommy. Lori wasn't quite sure how to react to what happened so she grabbed Tommy quickly walked away with him in tow. Lori had felt uneasy with Lace since they left the Factory. There was something about her and she was determined to find it.


	4. On the News

**Disclaimer: Nothing's changed, I still don't own BWOC... But I wish I did! It would still be aired in America!**

_Okay, my dear readers, what it up with the lack of reviews I'm getting? I asked for them and you all suck for not giving them to me! PLEASE REVIEW!!!_

Rather than taking Lace home, Merton brought her back to the lair. During their discussion of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, Merton had promised to lend her a book containing all of his writings. Once they arrived, Merton, acting like the perfect gentleman, opened the car door and lead Lace back into his lair. She resumed her exploration of the unique items that lay scattered about the room while he began to search the shelves for the selected book.

"Just make yourself at home," called Merton over his shoulder as he continued to dig through the shelves. Lace finally settled herself in one of the red chairs in front of the television and flipped through channels. "Ah, there you are," he called after several more moments of searching. He handed the book to her as he sat in the other red chair. "Here it is, nearly every short story ever written by H. P. Lovecraft. There's even a couple of his essays on fear or horror in there." Lace looked the book over. It was a hardcover book but looked to be leather; the discolored pages shown signs of age but were fully in tact. She flipped through the worn pages, mentally noting the titles that were held within.

"Thanks," she said as she slowly closed the old book with delicate care. The two sat in silence as the burning desire inside pulled them closer to each other. "I'll, uh, I'll get it back to you as soon as I finish it." Lace said gently, all the while moving closer.

Merton opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the soft lips of Lace pressing against his. As their kiss grew in passion, they moved as close together as the chairs would permit. His hand slid down the slick material of her dress, feeling every inch of her tantalizing figure. She lifted herself up to be closer to him. They slowly parted, studying each other as they tried to catch their breath.

"Wow," Merton finally sighed. She laughed and placed a gentle kiss on his lips before turning to the TV and laying her head on his shoulder.

"…regularly scheduled program to bring you this special report." Said a voice from the television. "Until now, reports of the Pleasantville werewolf were argued by skeptics but now this amazing footage could change their minds."

"Tommy!" Merton jolted from the chair then remembered Lace. "…s mom is really talented."

"That's Tommy's mom? This _is_ a small town. You know, speaking of Tommy, what was up with him tonight? I've never seen anyone act like that. It was almost like…" She trailed off.

"Like what?"

"Nothing, you wouldn't believe me."

"You can trust me."

Lace lifted her head and looked deep into his eyes then let out a sigh. "Okay, you see I can order animals, hell, I put them in a sort of trance. They do whatever I say, no matter what. Nothing will stop them unless I tell them to." Merton looked at her strangely. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"It is a little far fetched. Maybe you could give me a demonstration of said power?"

"Okay, your snake! What's it's name again?"

"Snaky."

"Ignoring the total originality in that. Snaky," Lace said, lifting her voice so that the snake could hear. "Merton needs a demonstration so wrap yourself around his arm." As soon the words left her mouth, the snake moved from it's usual hiding place of the desk and made its way up Merton's leg and around his arm.

Merton looked at the snake and then at Lace in shock. "How long will he stay there."

"Until I tell him to stop or he dehydrates, whichever happens first. Okay, snaky, you can go back now." Merton watched the snake slither away and then jumped out of his chair with excitement.

"That's amazing! How long have you been able to do that?"

"That's not important. I'm talking about Tommy now. He just seemed like he was one of my animals."

Merton forced a laugh. "That's absurd. He was probably just tired from football practice or something."

"Maybe you're right. I still can't shake this feeling th--"

"Kill the wolf man!" screamed a voice from the TV. T'n'T began to scream into the microphone after it was pulled from Mrs. Dawkins firm grip. "We know you're out there!" yelled Tim.

"That's right! We're going to find you!" bellowed Travis. "Get the wolf man!" The two walked off, yelling chants.

"This is Sally Dawkins, reporting to you live from Pleasantville Park."

"Can you believe that?" asked Lace as she turned off the television. "The whole towns excited about some guy who really needs to shave."

"Yeah, people are crazy."

Lace smiled. "I should be going home now. It's getting late."

"Yeah, sure. I'll give you a ride."

"No, that's fine, I can walk." She pulled him close for another kiss.

"Are you sure you couldn't stay for just a few mor minutes," said Merton moving closer to kiss her again.

"No, it's late. I should get going. I'll see you tomorrow." He sighed and walked her to the door. As Lace reached for the door, it swung open and landed a hard blow.

"Merton!" Called the voice of Tommy from behind the door.

"Damn it, what is it with people and doors in this town?" She mumbled, holding her head.

"What happened to you," asked Tommy as he noticed Lace. She reared to kick his but Merton stepped between them.

"Are you okay?" Asked Merton as he studied her face.

"Yeah, I guess. I'll see you later, Merton." She kissed his cheek gently and gave Tommy a dirty look before walking out.

Once she left, Tommy turned to Merton. "Merton, we've got a problem."

"I know, you just hit my girlfriend in the face with a door."

"No! I'm talking about my wolf problem!"

"Oh, I saw that on TV."

"It's on TV? What are we going to do?"


	5. Meet the Family

__

Disclaimer: I'm running out of ways to tell you I don't own BWOC or any of the characters. Hey! I just found a new way to say it!

Okay, I know what any of the readers who were reading this before I revamped it were thinking. You thought I would get to chapter 4 and quit again. Well, looky here! I finished the fifth chapter! Here it is for your own reading, and you ever doubted me? Anyways, sorry it took so long, the chapter was running dry and I really wanted to add something that would make it a little more interesting. I didn't put a lot in so I'm sorry if it runs a bit dry in some places. Chapter six coming up soon! Read, **REVIEW** and enjoy!!!

Lace opened her eyes, taking in the sight of a small room. The stone walls, covered in a fading blue paint, were plain and undecorated. She jumped from the small bed and ran to the metal door. There was no handle on the inside of the door; only a small window could hint what was on the other side. Through the window she could see the narrow hallway with doors on either side. Her breath became shallow as she slowly backed away from the door. Her body began to shake as she slid down against the wall, never taking her eyes off the door. Lace pulled her legs to her chest and began to sob.

"Not again," she repeated to herself as she slightly rocked. She began to cry hysterically and screaming for anyone to hear. After what seemed to be an eternity, the metal door opened, allowing entrance to three men in white coats. The lead man was tall and held a stern face. He took Lace's arm roughly, flipping it to see a code on the underside. She began to hyperventilate and her head started to spin.

"Subject A-7463, we've missed you." He said, giving a small grin. One of the two men behind him repeated the number as he wrote it on a clipboard. "You knew you couldn't hide from us for long," the tall man said as he put a pair of latex gloves on. He moved closer to her with a needle in his hand. The needle pushed a white liquid into her arm. The next thing she knew, Lace was laying in a new room, her body strapped to a table. Several wires were attached to her and a gag had been placed in her mouth. The man with the needle stood to her left and above her stood a nurse.

"Charge the electrodes," ordered the man. Nearly instantly a switch was flipped and a light humming could be heard. "Welcome home. Now, this may be a bit painful." Lace began begging through the gag as tears began to stream down her cheeks. "Start the treatment." A surge of electricity ran through her head.

Lace jolted up from the bed in a cold sweat. She quickly turned the light by her bed on and took in the surroundings. She was in her room. "Just a dream," she muttered to herself as she fell back into the bed. She studied the underside of her arm usually covered in a thick coat of makeup. Her fingers traced the bold, black characters tattooed into her skin: A-7463. Lace whistled lightly for Elizabeth and Vlad who were sleeping in their bed on the other side of the room. The two dogs ran to her side, eager to please. She pulled them onto the bed with her and ordered them to protect her while she slept. With the dogs there, she would be safer, in her own mind at least.

Early the next morning, Merton stood at Lace's front door with several books piled in his arms. He stood there for a moment, twitching lightly as he tried to relax and act casual. Finally, a shaking finger slowly moved toward the doorbell. Slight pressure sent a loud chime ringing throughout the house. A moment later, a tall, thin woman came to the door with a cup of coffee in her hand.

"G-good morning, miss. Is Lace home?" The woman tucked a strand of her short brown hair behind her ear as she began to speak. "It's not too early, is it?" Merton interrupted. "I knew I should have waited a few more hours. I'm sorry, I'll just come back another time." Merton stuttered and jittered along the sentences then began to clumsily turn around.

"Wait, it's not too early. I've been up for a few hours now. You're here to see Alace?" She gave another friendly smile and pushed the door open more for him to come in. He gauchely walked into the house with all the books in his hands. "I'm Jan."

"Merton J. Dingle," he said as he tried to free a hand from the books to offer to her. Jan managed to take his hand in hers for a brief handshake before he returned to the leaning tower of books he held.

"Lace is in her room, go on up." she said, pointing to the steps that led to a loft. Merton gave a small nod and began up the steps. He scanned the room for Lace, his eyes finally resting upon her figure within a mass of fur and blankets. His final step sent a creaking alarm, causing her to jump in place and stir the dogs from about her. The two dogs began to snarl at him.

"It's only me." he said softly as he set the books on a small table. "Your mom said I could come up. I didn't mean to wake you."

"Elizabeth, Vlad, stand down." Said Lace before she fully directed her attention to Merton. "Don't worry about it. I didn't sleep that well last night. I don't think I was even asleep when you came up."

"You named your dogs after the infamous Count and Countess?"

"Yeah, you see, they have a trace of wolf in them so that's why I named her. And after I named her Elizabeth Bathory, it seemed wrong to name him anything but Vlad the Impaler." Merton nodded and studied the pale gray-white huskies. "So, what's all that?" Lace sat up in the bed and nodded toward the books at his side.

"Oh, this is why I came by this morning. Last night I did a little research and found out a lot about your gift. I believe it's a form of hypnotic-suggestion." Lace smiled as she tried to smooth out the tousled mess of hair around her face. "I also found more cases of gifts such as yours."

"And here I thought I was unique. How did these other people get theirs?"

"Same as you mostly. Most of them said they could always do it. There was this one case, however, where this man fell on the subway tracks, landed on the charged rail and lived! He was burned to a crisp, of course but still lived. Later, he found he had the power to control animals. He made the mistake of going public with it and the government immediately picked him up for experiments."

"How do you know that?"

"He just disappeared one day and was never heard from again. There was never even a missing person's report filed. "

"When was all this?" Lace asked, now fully awaked and listening intently to Merton.

"Um…" he said as he flipped through the pages of one of the books. "It says here he was last seen on a TV show that was filmed in 1987."

"A year before I was born," Lace muttered to herself.


End file.
